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Orange County's nonprofit newsroomWed, 21 Feb 2018 23:27:43 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4More than 100 Homeless People Relocated In One Day From Santa Ana Riverbedhttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/more-than-100-homeless-people-relocated-in-one-day-from-santa-ana-riverbed/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/more-than-100-homeless-people-relocated-in-one-day-from-santa-ana-riverbed/#respondWed, 21 Feb 2018 13:07:28 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=478268More than 100 homeless people were moved from the northeast section of the Santa Ana riverbed Tuesday, as part of a mass relocation effort by the County of Orange to clear a longstanding homeless encampment.

By 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, a homeless encampment on the northeast section of the Santa Ana Riverbed was largely quiet and empty, with most of the residents gone, although several homeless people were still waiting for housing.

In the dark, Carter walked briskly through the encampment, passing mounds of trash, abandoned campsites, a small campfire and a group of men loading belongings into a U-Haul truck, with the sound of The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” blasting from a speaker.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, county officials reported they had housed over 100 people, largely in motels and some in shelters. They also said Sheriff’s deputies made no arrests of riverbed homeless people. One man who rode past the riverbed had an outstanding warrant and a weapon and was arrested.

An estimated 400 homeless people were living along the riverbed as of last Wednesday, Feb. 14. By the end of Tuesday, officials said they have removed more than 300 people, although it's hard to estimate how many are left because of an influx of homeless people coming in seeking motel rooms.

“There’s not been one act of violence,” said Carter, congratulating county officials and attorneys who sued the county for collaborating on the effort.

A week after the evictions started, attorneys Carol Sobel and Brooke Weitzman filed a lawsuit on Jan. 29 on behalf of the nonprofit Catholic Worker and seven homeless people. On Feb. 6, Carter issued a temporary restraining order halting the evictions.

Attorneys, pressured by Carter to work together, hammered out a deal last week to begin evictions Tuesday with the understanding the county would provide at least 400 motel beds and other services, and open up extra spaces at shelters.

Those motel stays will last 30 days, and it's unclear what will happen after that.

The mass relocation of homeless residents on the riverbed has been heavily publicized in the news media, drawing people from up and down the riverbed and from other parts of the county to the area to receive services.

Just after 9 a.m. sheriff’s deputies, public work crews, and county healthcare workers descended on the encampment beginning at the north end, coming south from Ball Road/Taft Avenue.

By 10 a.m. more than 100 people were lined up to receive housing and services from county healthcare workers, who conducted assessments of each person’s needs and connected them to shelter and housing.

Weitzman and Sobel monitored the process, along with a team of attorneys from the county.

County Counsel Leon Page said deputies hopefully wouldn’t have to arrest anyone.

“If people are moving, then it’s not a crime,” Page said.

Throughout the day, much of the north side of the camp that stretches from Ball Road/Taft Avenue to Katella Avenue was bustling with activity as people were getting their belongings together before deputies and county workers got to their section.

Many people neatly stacked their belongings they planned on taking to motels, while piling the rest of their stuff to the side for work crews to throw in the trash. Some left their tents up because they said they weren’t sure if they were going to get into a motel Tuesday or not. Overnight temperatures this week are expected to drop into the high 30s.

Weitzman said she began telling people south of the railroad tracks in the northeast portion of the camp to leave their tents up, but get their belongings together to get ready for the move.

The county is obligated to provide storage to people leaving the riverbed for up to 90 days.

Others simply abandoned camp, taking only their essentials and leaving behind a trail of things like broken tents, dirty clothes and shoes, tarps, food and food wrappers, bicycle parts and various electronics that ranged from cell phone parts to solar panels.

Many people had cats and dogs waiting with them.

A couple of homeless women expressed frustration at the number of homeless people coming from outside the riverbed seeking housing. “Fuck those guys,” said one woman angrily, as her friend packed up.

Many homeless people lacking identification cards walked, biked or skateboarded to the section of the camp by Angel Stadium to get county-issued ID cards that would allow them to check into a motel.

Some people wore their cards on their shirts or jackets, so deputies knew they were from the riverbed and would allow them to move back and forth throughout the camp. Deputies stood at the entrance to Camp Hope in an attempt to keep out the homeless not from the riverbed.

James Petkus, holding his one-year old cat, Baby, in his lap, said he was thankful to finally leave the riverbed and get antibiotics for his cat, which was suffering from an infection from a dog bite.

County healthcare workers helped Petkus, who is largely confined to wheelchair, gather his belongings and load them into a van, while he awaited a ride to a motel.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bronniche was packing up awaiting his motel booking with his small dog, Tinkerbell. He was hesitant to get a motel last week "because everything has been changing so fast," and worried that he would not be placed in a motel while simultaneously losing his tent and other survival gear.

Bronniche, a Minnesota native who has lived in Orange County since the 1980s, has been struggling with heroin addiction after he broke his back doing masonry work.

Milton Chalker has lived at the riverbed for more than three years, while his wife Sophia Halliday and their two children stayed at a string of shelters. Halliday said his wife suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and has difficulty coping with noisy motels.

The couple’s two children are ages one and six and Chalker and his wife were concerned about being moved to a motel with criminal activity.

The family waited for several hours, and eventually were placed in a motel in Laguna Niguel.

Meanwhile, Amy Potter, a 47-year-old homeless woman who has lived at the riverbed for two and a half years, was one of at least two dozen people still waiting after dark for housing. Potter was originally signed up to go to a motel in Anaheim, but county workers over-booked the motel.

Potter, who has a cat, has had her things packed for a week but said she was prepared to stay another night in her tent.

“They have been helpful, but today was kind of strange. This is their first time doing anything like this,” Potter said. “I understand that.”

Sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Braun said county employees stayed on site until 11 p.m. Monday night, and will likely do that again.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/more-than-100-homeless-people-relocated-in-one-day-from-santa-ana-riverbed/feed/0Judge Lifts Temporary Restraining Order; Allows County to Begin Clearing Homeless From Santa Ana Riverbedhttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/judge-lifts-temporary-restraining-order-allows-county-to-begin-clearing-homeless-from-santa-ana-riverbed/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/judge-lifts-temporary-restraining-order-allows-county-to-begin-clearing-homeless-from-santa-ana-riverbed/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 19:13:20 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=478000U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter Tuesday lifted a temporary restraining order against the County of Orange, allowing it to begin evicting as many as 400 homeless people who still live along the Santa Ana Riverbed.

Carter convened an 8 a.m. court hearing at a fold-up table in the parking lot of the Honda Center, where he told attorneys that people living along the riverbed have had plenty of time to prepare to leave.

“I’ll be out of your way, but I’ll be here,” Carter said to county attorneys during the informal hearing. “This is not going to be perfect. You’re going to have extraordinary complaints along the way.”

SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC

Sheriffs at the north side of camp, near Taft Avenue.

The end of the restraining order will allow the county to arrest and cite homeless people who refuse to leave, although county counsel Leon Page said “our goal is zero arrests today.”

The lifting of the temporary restraining order raised immediate concerns from attorney Brooke Weitzman, who is representing seven homeless people who live along the riverbed. Weitzman said homeless people should have the right to leave the riverbed – to eat, use the bathroom, go to work and take care of other needs – without facing the threat of arrest for returning.

“You conduct yourself the way you feel is appropriate,” Carter told county attorneys. “You decide to arrest people on the way, but that’s your decision.”

SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC

Sheriffs deputies begin to roll in to the north side of the camp from Taft Avenue just before 9:15 am Tuesday.

County officials and Sheriff’s deputies flooded the northeast end of the riverbed, between Taft Avenue/Ball Road and Memory Lane, Tuesday morning and began notifying people of the judge’s order. Their plan is to clear the riverbed section by section.

Sheriff’s deputies began by asking people living along the riverbed for their names and pointing them to county service workers.

By 10 a.m., roughly 100 people were lined up to receive county services. But both county officials and riverbed residents said some homeless people who either left the riverbed when told to by sheriff’s deputies earlier this month or never lived on the riverbed also are seeking the motel rooms.

One man told a reporter he was homeless in Santa Ana but rode his bike to the riverbed Tuesday, hope to gain shelter in a motel room.

Sheriff’s deputies originally began the eviction Jan. 22 when they walked tent-to-tent and told people they have to start packing up and getting ready to leave under “voluntary compliance.”

One week after the evictions started, a lawsuit was filed Jan. 29 by attorneys Weitzman and Carol Sobel on behalf of the local nonprofit Catholic Worker and seven homeless individuals.

Enforcement efforts kicked up Feb. 1 when officers from the probation and parole departments accompanied sheriff’s deputies and started doing parole and probation checks, along with warrant checks on the homeless still living in the riverbed.

The increased enforcement, coupled with the anti-camping and anti-loitering laws in the surrounding cities drew concern from Carter, who issued a temporary restraining order against the county Feb. 6 that stopped the evictions.

Since the eviction began and before Carter made both sides work together, many of the homeless said they didn't know where to go. As of Monday night, many people were awaiting state-issued identification cards so they can be booked into motels. A number of the homeless said being in a motel will make it easier for them to find work, since they’ll have a place to shower and keep their stuff during the day.

SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC

A sign from the north side of the homeless encampment near Taft Avenue.

“I think the homeless residents are ready to go. [But] the county doesn’t have any place for them to go,” Weitzman said.

According to county officials, the county so far has housed 178 people in 157 motel rooms. County officials hope to have 100 more motel rooms available by the end of Tuesday.

But officials acknowledge they have had difficulty obtaining more motel rooms. The originally promised to get at least 400 rooms.

“We’ve had reservations, people en route, and the motel owner calls and backs out,” Page said.

Carter surprised county officials Tuesday morning by delivering a Tuff Shed to the parking lot of the Honda Center – a temporary wooden shed typically used for outdoor storage – and told county officials he has the president of the company on the phone ready to chat.

“That’s a Tuff Shed. You don’t have to buy it but I’m tired of people not knowing what they look like,” Carter said.

Carter declined to answer news media questions, but stayed at the riverbed with his staff.

Orange County native Larry Ford, a former general contractor who’s been unemployed and homeless for three years due to a knee injury, said he found work directly across the river from the homeless camp at the Honda Center as a line cook.

The 30-day motel stay will give Ford time “to stabilize things” and save up to look for a permanent place to stay.

He warned that homelessness could happen to anyone.

“It’s just one of those things, you know … I owned a home, I’ve built many a home,” Ford said. He used to do minor electrical work, stucco, framing, painting, flooring and other residential construction before his injury.

Cherie Anders, a 31-year-old woman from Maine, said she has been in Orange County for at least four years, coming west for family reasons and living on the riverbed since 2016. She said she’s been struggling with anxiety and other “mental issues,” is waiting for a state identification card and hopes to get into a motel as quickly as possible.

“Once I get that (motel room), I can get a job and into housing, all that stuff,” Anders said. “If they’re (the county) going to help, let’s use their help to get better than just going back to doing nothing with your life. Try to change your life. I’m definitely going to use it to try to change my life. Thank you Judge Carter.”

Meanwhile, 55-year-old Jeff Bronniche, a Minnesota native who’s been in Orange County for over 30 years, said he’s struggling trying to get a motel because his girlfriend’s mental healthcare worker is on vacation and he wants to stick with her in the move instead of splitting up.

“She’s gone until Tuesday when all this will be over,” Bronniche said, who injured his back doing masonry work and has struggled ever since. “We’ve been on the (housing) list for six, seven months.”

After his injury, Bronniche said became addicted to painkillers, then eventually heroin.

“I don’t use to get high. I use to get my head clear out here,” Bronniche said, adding that life in the riverbed can “be overwhelming” at times.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/judge-lifts-temporary-restraining-order-allows-county-to-begin-clearing-homeless-from-santa-ana-riverbed/feed/0Activists Threaten to Sue Steel and Rackauckas If They Don’t Pay Back County For “Community Coffee” Mailerhttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/activists-threaten-to-sue-steel-and-rackauckas-if-they-dont-pay-back-county-for-community-coffee-mailer/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/activists-threaten-to-sue-steel-and-rackauckas-if-they-dont-pay-back-county-for-community-coffee-mailer/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 15:08:20 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=477448Government watchdog Shirley Grindle sent letters to county Supervisor Michelle Steel and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas demanding they repay taxpayers all costs for 16,000 postcards featuring the officials' names and inviting voters to a “community coffee” that only could accommodate 50 people.

“Your mailer inviting constituents to an event without any public purpose is improper, a misuse of taxpayers’ funds and, most critically, illegal,” reads the Feb. 14 letter from Grindle and Bill Mitchell, a lawyer and former president of Orange County Common Cause.

If Steel and Rackauckas do not reimburse taxpayers for “all costs associated with the mailing and the hosting” of the Jan. 27 event, Grindle and Mitchell wrote, they will bring legal action against them, as well as any other supervisor who sent “questionable mailers.”

The legal action will seek to ban all future mailings “that do not directly relate to the elected officials’ duties,” and win taxpayer reimbursement for all mailers the court determines violated the law, they wrote.

Steel did not respond to multiple telephone requests Friday for comment. Rackauckas’ spokeswoman, Michelle Van Der Linden, reiterated her original comment on the mailers.

"Tony was an invited guest by the supervisor. It’s our indication [the] entire process was reviewed by county counsel, and we’re referring any further questions to them," Van Der Linden said.

Grindle has endorsed one of Rackauckas’s opponents, Supervisor Todd Spitzer, in this year’s campaign for District Attorney.

“I don’t like to get involved in endorsements,” Grindle said in a telephone interview, but “with the history of the present district attorney, we definitely need a change in that office.” Mitchell said he hasn’t endorsed or donated to any DA candidates in this race. But he said he is a past donor to Spitzer.

In addition to the letters to Steel and Rackauckas, Grindle also sent a letter to the state Attorney General's Office alleging the DA illegally used public resources for a campaign activity during the event advertised in the mailers.

For the January event, the county spent $5,787.97 to print and send the color postcard to 16,000 voters, according to emails, text messages and video clips reviewed by Voice of OC. Another $250 was spent on food for the up to 50 guests at the Saturday morning coffee. It’s unknown how much in additional costs were spent on county staff salaries for those who worked on the mailer.

Both Steel and Rackauckas are up for re-election this year. Steel previously won by comfortable margins and has over $500,000 in her campaign account.

The spending ramped up just before the June 2016 primary election, then dropped off to nothing for three months, before ramping up again before the November general election. Do stopped sending taxpayer-funded mailers after he won re-election.

The new state law, which Grindle worked with state officials to help pass, bans local government-funded mailers featuring elected officials 60 days before elections. It was approved unanimously by both houses of the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

This year, the black-out periods are April 6 until the June 5 primary, and Sept. 7 until the Nov. 6 general election.

Grindle is a decades-long activist who, among other things, authored Orange County’s 1978 campaign finance law, known as TIN-CUP (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) which was approved by voters and limits the amount of campaign money county candidates can accept from donors.

In a Voice of OC podcast last week, Grindle, who also convinced the Board of Supervisors to put a county ethics commission proposal on the ballot, said the commission only can deal with county laws and the Steel and Rackauckas mailer falls under state law.

She sent a letter and flash drive Feb. 6 to state Attorney General Xavier Becerra arguing Rackauckas crossed the line during the Costa Mesa coffee when he allegedly gave a student his DA’s office business card and told him to call his government office for instructions on how to get involved in his re-election campaign.

The man, who identified himself as a California State University, Fullerton, student, recorded video as he asked Rackauckas how he could get involved in election campaigns, according to a clip reviewed by Voice of OC.

Rackauckas advised him to contact the various campaigns, according to the video. The man asked how he could get involved in Rackauckas’ campaign.

Rackauckas reached into his pocket and appeared to hand over a card. “That number is [directly] to my office, so uh – so call – you’ll talk to my assistant, Vickie. And, uh, let her know. And she won’t be able to do anything, but she’ll make sure that…that we get that and we get it…to the right people.”

The young man asked how to find out more about Rackauckas’s campaign platform and Rackauckas told him the address for his campaign website, ocdistrictattorney.com.

Grindle and Mitchell wrote in their letter: “It is obvious that Rackauckas was advising the student that the way to work on his campaign was to contact his county employee at his county office. This is in direct conflict with the intent of Govt. Code Section 8314 which expressly prohibits state and local elected officials to use or permit others to use public resources for a campaign activity.”

Their letter concluded: “In order to avoid this occurring again, could your agency issue a warning letter to Rackauckas informing him of this ethical violation?”

Grindle said Friday she hasn’t heard from the AG’s office and no one from the attorney general's news media office returned message late Friday afternoon from Voice of OC.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter will decide at 8 a.m. Tuesday whether the county can immediately begin evicting all homeless people from the Santa Ana riverbed or, as the county requested over the weekend, let the evictions go forward in stages to address a bottleneck in booking motel rooms for the homeless people.

Lead county counsel Leon Page filed a request with the court Saturday evening, asking if the county could evict the riverbed homeless in segments instead of removing everyone from the riverbed homeless camps Tuesday. He said the delay was necessary for the county to book enough motel or hotel rooms to shelter the homeless for at least 30 days until more permanent arrangements can be made.

The county’s filing said the quick pace of motel bookings could set up homeless people for failure and the large influx of people will put a strain on the county’s healthcare system.

“Harried motel housing for this population may set them up for failure. In fact, some of the individuals housed since last week in motels have already been evicted for failure to comply with rules. Similarly, instantly uploading 300 plus individuals into the County's health care system creates a burden that cannot be met this quickly and sets the system up to fail,” reads the county’s filing.

Illinois native James Petkus also was waiting for a motel as of Sunday night. He’s called Orange County home for 34 years.

“I don’t need a hand out, I need a hand up,” Petkus said from his wheelchair. “I’m not asking to get rich, I’m just asking for enough money to eat and call it a day.”

During a Feb. 13 court discussion, Carter made it clear he wanted the county and lawyers for homeless people to work together to move the homeless from the riverbed and into shelter “humanely.” Carter also has repeatedly said the parties will be moving quicker than expected and that he will continue to monitor what happens to the riverbed homeless.

Carter is scheduled to be at the riverbed at 8 a.m. Tuesday to personally observe the eviction process. He stopped at the homeless camp near Angel stadium for a few minutes Monday afternoon and checked with county staff who were taking peoples’ information to apply for state-issued identification cards and motel bookings.

County spokeswoman Jennifer Nentwig said, via email Sunday, staff are working overtime on booking people into motel rooms and connecting them to drug treatment or mental health programs.

“County HCA (Healthcare Agency) staff at all levels have been putting in whatever it takes, time wise, since Tuesday…,” Nentwig wrote. “...Outreach & Engagement staff have been working daily until almost 8 p.m., and yesterday (Saturday) they were still dealing with things as late as 11 p.m.”

Nentwig emailed an update to Voice of OC late Sunday evening that said 116 people have been moved or are moving into motels and about 80 motel rooms are available as of Sunday night and Monday morning.

The county’s court filing Sunday also said many motels won't take paper licenses or county issued identification cards, which many homeless are slated to receive Monday morning.

"In addition to some of the difficulties raised in the County’s Notice of Issues filed yesterday (Saturday), there are a number of motels that require IDs and will not accept paper copies of DMV license print outs or County issued IDs," reads the update.

Five people have been or are being evicted from the motels, according the county’s Saturday court filing.

County Chief Real Estate Officer Scott Mayer is finalizing a six-month lease for 100 motel rooms at an unnamed motel, according to the filing. The lease would immediately provide 50 rooms and 50 more “over the next two weeks.” The maximum occupancy for the rooms is 282 people. There’s an estimated 300-400 people still living on the riverbed.

“If the Court insists on clearing the Santa Ana Riverbed in one day, the County requests that the Court encourage persons suffering from substances addictions or physical ailments to instead select a service option, such as recuperative care bed or substance abuse treatment beds, that will better meet those individuals’ long term needs,” reads the county’s filing.

In the court document, the county also claims that county staff are facing a tough time with more people moving back into the riverbed and “demanding their motel room.” People also are “becoming more aggressive,” some are refusing certain motels based on location and others are refusing drug treatment, according to the document. Before Carter began pushing last week for both sides to reach an agreement on moving people from the riverbank, an unknown number of homeless left this month because Sheriff’s deputies warned if they didn’t go voluntarily, compulsory evictions would follow.

However, the Legal Aid Society, which filed a lawsuit against the county on behalf of some of the disabled homeless living on the riverbed, objected late Saturday night to the county’s request to do the evictions in segments. Legal Aid’s filing said people should be near resources they rely on, disabled homeless should be allowed to make “reasonable modification requests” and argued some of the motels the county is offering are home to “illicit activities.”

Bronniche, a 55-year-old mason, said he broke his back while working and hasn’t been able to work since. The Minnesota native, who’s been in Orange County most of his life, said he’s been on the housing wait list for at least six months.

“Out here, everyday is a struggle. Sometimes you just want to put a gun to your fucking head and blow your head off,” Bronniche said. “Hustling all day for ten, twenty bucks is hard work. It’s damaging to your psyche … they look at you like some kind of fucking alien. I’m just a human being trying to survive, you know.”

After his injury, Bronniche said he became addicted to painkillers, then eventually heroin.

“I don’t steal, I don’t take from the homeless people, I don’t rip anybody off -- I dumpster dive and sell that stuff,” Bronniche said. “It’s not something I’m proud of, being a heroin addict.”

Petkus said they can’t keep cell phones on the riverbed because people steal them. Many social workers and volunteers stay in communication with the homeless on the riverbed through cell phones.

“We can’t keep them (cell phones). There’s people that are really interested in them,” Petkus said. “I understand we’re in (between) a rock and a hard place.”

Petkus said he fears someday he may have to go back to the riverbed or another place like it.

“I don’t think I can handle this again. In fact, I know I can’t. I’m already depressed,” Petkus said. “Sometimes when I cross the bridge, sometimes I wonder…”

“If you’re going to make it to the other side,” Bronniche added.

Spencer Custodio is a Voice of OC reporter who covers south Orange County and Fullerton. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org.

And the judge overseeing the arrangement said he'll continue to stay involved well into the future.

The specifics were announced in the Santa Ana courtroom of U.S. District Judge David O. Carter and agreed to by county officials and lawyers for homeless people. It includes having lawyers on all sides – and Carter – on scene to observe the evictions Tuesday and ensure people are treated humanely and offered the chance to move into motel rooms.

County officials and lawyers for homeless people said they planned to work over the three-day holiday weekend to help ensure any homeless people who want motel rooms before the deadline can quickly move into them. On Wednesday and Thursday, a total of 34 homeless people moved from the riverbed into motels, according to county officials.

For homeless people who still are at the riverbed Tuesday morning, county mental health workers will take the lead in speaking with them and offering shelter and motel rooms for at least 30 days. The county also has agreed to set up further shelter beyond that timeframe, and Carter has expressed a preference for camps with small tents or sheds and centralized services like food, medical care, restrooms and showers.

Standing at some distance behind the mental health workers Tuesday will be sheriff’s deputies and lawyers for homeless people and the county, under the plan negotiated by all sides in an ongoing federal lawsuit by lawyers for homeless people.

The evictions are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the northern end of the camp, just south of Ball Road in Anaheim, and move south. Shelter and motel beds will be offered before people are required to leave, county officials said.

At Carter’s urging, the adversarial lawsuit quickly turned into a collaborative effort by county officials and attorneys for homeless people to quickly – and, as the judge emphasized, “humanely” – provide shelter for the people who will be removed from the riverbed.

As issues have came up – such as homeless people not having photo IDs required by some motels – Carter embraced them as opportunities for officials to fix problems as they arise. Among other efforts, county officials have made arrangements to provide ID cards to homeless people.

When somebody says they “failed,” Carter said, that’s “not a bad thing,” because they tried and everyone will work to fix what’s wrong.

When county officials told the judge they were having trouble getting motel owners to agree to host homeless people, the judge made a phone call in the courtroom and addressed major concerns raised by the motel owners. The biggest was who will take responsibility for paying to fix any damage to motel property, which the county has agreed to take on.

In order to receive motel rooms, homeless people must agree to a code of conduct that, if violated, can result in their removal from motels.

With permission on the other end of the line from a realtor trying to get motel owners on board, Carter placed the call on speakerphone in court and leaned into the audience seats so attorneys for both sides of the case could weigh in to address concerns.

Carter reminded the realtor and her father that they had Carter’s home telephone number and could call over the weekend. “I don’t care if you call me at midnight,” the judge said.

Richard Sanchez, who leads the county Health Care Agency and had run into difficulty convincing a motel owner to provide rooms, expressed relief at the judge’s involvement to help move the process forward, as did county attorneys.

Both sides of the lawsuit – county lawyers and lawyers for homeless people – were smiling when they walked out of Friday’s hearing. They separately praised each other’s collaborative spirit and expressed gratitude for Carter’s efforts.

“We had really phenomenal collaboration with opposing counsel,” said the county’s top attorney, Leon Page, as he addressed the judge Friday. “I would just like to thank opposing counsel for being so professional [and] cooperative in this process.”

During and after Friday’s court hearing, the top lawyers on each side said they were confident they can work together to resolve challenges that emerge in the coming days.

Both sides have been “working really successfully together,” Brooke Weitzman, the lead attorney for homeless people, told the judge.

As issues came up, she added, “the county has worked quickly to resolve them.” Sometimes, by the time Weitzman brought an issue up, she said, county officials “were already working on a solution.”

One example is government-issued ID cards, which some motel owners require. Many homeless people don’t have driver’s licenses – or they’re expired – which created problems this week when the county starting trying to move homeless people into motels.

County officials have moved to fix that issue, Page said in court Friday. If a homeless person at the riverbed doesn’t have a photo ID, the county will try to move them to a motel that doesn’t require one, he said.

If that’s not feasible, he said, the Sheriff’s Department will be able to access the state DMV database from their mobile command post and print out a copy of their driver’s license. If a motel owner insists that’s not sufficient, the county public works department can issue a county ID just like they do for county employees, Page said.

“Outstanding,” Carter said in response. He thanked the county officials and lawyers, as well as Weitzman and the other lawyers for homeless people, for their “extraordinary efforts,”

Federal Judge to Continue Monitoring

The judge said he’d be closely involved in monitoring the situation going forward, including after the minimum-30-day motel stays.

“This is just the very, very beginning,” Carter said earlier Friday as he heard testimony from a homeless advocate. “I’m not going away. This is just the beginning. A baby step, that’s all this is.”

He later added: “In 30 days, something will happen. This is the beginning. This is not the end. This is the beginning.”

The judge made clear that he planned to help people who are able bodied and willing to work, as well as people who need medical and mental health help. At the same time, he said he would not help people who can work but simply are “wandering around.”

“I’m not gonna support the homeless lifestyle,” Carter said. “But by the same token, I will take care of the people who truly need help.”

He said the attention the issue is receiving will prompt community members to make a positive difference when it comes to homelessness.

“The notoriety will let good people step up [and] solve it,” Carter said.

Carter also heard emotional testimony Friday from Heidi Zimmerman, a homeless advocate who has been repeatedly ignored by county supervisors when she’s come to testify at their meetings.

Zimmerman showed photos of homeless friends of hers along the riverbed who have passed away in the last couple of years. Some of her homeless friends have severe disabilities, she said, showing a photo of a man with a major burn through his eye socket.

She expressed concern about large-scale shelters that don’t offer privacy to homeless people, citing studies showing that it’s important for people’s mental health that they receive quiet sleep in a dark place.

Carter took a strong interest in Zimmerman’s testimony, asking her questions, thanking her for her comments and inviting her to offer solutions.

Regarding plans going forward, Carter said he expected the county to follow through on its commitment to set up temporary shelter on various county properties as well as the WISEPlace women’s shelter in Santa Ana.

County officials have committed to providing 300 to 400 new beds on various properties, separately from the motel rooms, which could become a place for people in medium-term after the month-long motel stays.

Carter wanted the first round of tents on county property to be set up by Thursday of next week.

The county has purchased large tents for the parking lot at the Kraemer shelter in Anaheim, which are expected to arrive at the LAX airport in Los Angeles on Monday, Page said in court. Those tents are expected be delivered to Kraemer that evening, he said.

Carter said large tents would be fine for Kraemer, but pressed the county to place smaller tents or small prefabricated sheds on the other properties.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, Carter’s temporary restraining order banning the evictions will expire, and county officials will have legal authority to remove homeless people from the riverbed.

But under the plan, which Carter said he will be on site to oversee, county mental health workers will first offer homeless people a bed at a shelter or a recuperative care facility.

If they decline, the health worker will offer a motel room that is already reserved, as well as transportation to the room and a $75 food gift card so the homeless person can have “immediate access to food” until more permanent food access is available, said Page when he formally announced the plan in court.

Additionally, at Carter’s request, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also has committed to have a team of nurses and outreach workers on scene to help connect homeless veterans to housing and health services.

From the beginning of his first hearing on the case Tuesday, Carter urged both sides of the lawsuit to set aside the usual adversarial approach of the American legal system and instead try to collaborate on problem-solving to satisfy what both sides want.

The county wants people cleared out from the riverbed – which it will get to do Tuesday – while homeless advocates don’t want homeless people forced into cities that arrest people for camping in public, amid a shortage of shelter beds.

Homelessness long has been an issue in Orange County, and one that county officials historically have shied away from taking leadership.

As Carter reminded officials this week, a county grand jury declared in 2006 that “the homeless problem does not appear to be a priority with the Board of Supervisors.” The only county money devoted to homelessness at the time was $143,000, “solely for management salaries,” the panel said.

Carter emphasized the 2006 findings don’t reflect on the current county supervisors, none of whom were in office back then. But Carter did repeatedly remind county officials he could start asking tough questions about “hundreds of millions” of dollars in public money they have allegedly stockpiled that could help homeless people.

Orange County now is one of the most expensive rental markets in the country, and the gap between income and housing costs continues to widen.

There is widespread agreement that a major solution to the housing crisis would be building more housing. But experts say the pace of new home construction still is far behind what’s needed to keep pace with the growth in demand.

As for cities’ anti-camping and loitering laws in cities, Anaheim officials say their police officers enforce them against homeless people, but that their focus first is on offering services and shelter.

The actual issuing of such citations is rare, according to data Anaheim submitted to the court at Carter’s request.

No camping citations were issued between Jan. 1 and Feb. 11, according to a court filing by the city, and one citation was issued for loitering during that period. Details of the citation weren't immediately available.

Anaheim has helped 960 individual people transition from homelessness since 2014, according to city spokesman Mike Lyster.

It’s unclear to what extent the city of Orange, which also borders the riverbed, enforces such laws. The Orange Police Department’s spokesman, Sgt. Phil McMullin, didn’t return a phone message Friday seeking that information, nor did City Attorney Wayne Winthers.

Nick Gerda covers county government and Santa Ana for Voice of OC. You can contact him at ngerda@voiceofoc.org.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/details-decided-for-santa-ana-riverbed-homeless-evictions-judge-monitoring-closely/feed/0Plan to Move Riverbed Homeless to Motels Approved by OC Supervisorshttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/plan-to-move-riverbed-homeless-to-motels-approved-by-oc-supervisors/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/plan-to-move-riverbed-homeless-to-motels-approved-by-oc-supervisors/#respondFri, 16 Feb 2018 15:02:19 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=473889An agreement brokered by a federal judge to provide motel rooms to the 400 homeless people estimated to still be living next to the Santa Ana River received its final approval Thursday, with unanimous votes from the county Board of Supervisors to ratify and implement the agreement.

Under the agreement, the county will provide motel rooms for at least 30 days to those now living along the riverbed. People at the riverbed will have a choice of moving to a motel, leaving the riverbed, or facing arrest if they stay after the 9 a.m. Tuesday deadline.

Additionally, as part of the court-brokered deal, the county is working to add separate shelter for 300 to 400 people by erecting tents or other structures on county land and adding beds at existing shelters. The new space potentially could house people after their 30 days in motels.

“This is a new era, a new period in our county’s history,” supervisors’ Chairman Andrew Do, who publicly put forward the offer of 700 to 800 additional beds, said at a special supervisors’ meeting Thursday on the issue. Do said he appreciated the “active participation” of city officials to help find solutions in recent days, including cities that were not part of the lawsuit, like Santa Ana.

The final step in adopting the agreement was its approval by the Board of Supervisors, who held the special meeting at 3 p.m. Thursday.

After talking in closed session for about 30 minutes, the supervisors came into the public chambers and their lead attorney, Leon Page, announced the motel and shelter agreement was approved on a 5-0 vote.

Both homeless advocates and county supervisors expressed happiness with the deal.

“We’re all really excited” about what’s happening, said Brooke Weitzman, one of the lead attorneys for homeless people in the lawsuit that led to the agreement.

While there will be some trial and error when it comes to motels, Weitzman said, “we’re working really closely with the county. We’re all looking for solutions right now.”

“The end result is that the county is [going to] get to do the maintenance [to the riverbed] they wanted, and we’re gonna have” women and veteran’s services provided and “400 people who were a little bit forgotten” will be in motels, receive food, and get health evaluations.

“I’m very proud of this,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who attended the court proceedings Tuesday and walked the riverbed camp with Carter Wednesday morning.

“I’m very proud that Judge Carter…has made it possible for actually the county to advance the interests that heretofore we haven’t be able to with…folks who need our help.”

While it’s unclear where exactly people will go after 30 days, the judge has made clear “no one is getting dumped” after 30 days, said Weitzman. Carter has said he will continue to monitor the riverbed evictions and shelter situation, and has asked the county to find a long-term solution.

In response to the judge’s pressure, county officials are preparing to quickly expand the bed capacity at the Kraemer shelter in Anaheim and WISEPlace women’s shelter in Santa Ana, as well as set up tents on county-owned land in Anaheim, Orange, and possibly Santa Ana.

The supervisors did not publicly give direction about which county properties would be used for tents or other temporary shelter after the 30-day motel period expires. But in court this week, Do identified the four potential properties as:

A county public works yard lot in Orange across the riverbed from the ARTIC transportation center (adding tents or other temporary shelter),

Vacant county land near the Registrar of Voters office on Grand Avenue in Santa Ana (adding tents or other temporary shelter).

Santa Ana City Manager Raul Godinez attended the supervisors’ meeting Thursday to commend the agreement and support the WISEPlace beds, but also urged county officials to avoid using vacant Santa Ana land for temporary shelter.

He also asked that the motel rooms be spread “evenly” throughout Orange County and not just in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana is home to about 10 percent of the county’s residents but already has 40 to 50 percent of the homeless beds, added Councilman Jose Solorio, who supported Godinez’ remarks.

In court Tuesday, Carter commended Santa Ana for hosting more homeless services than other cities in Orange County. The city has “stepped up” and has been bearing the burden in Orange County for many years, the judge said.

County officials didn’t indicate whether the Santa Ana property near the Registrar of Voters was still on the table.

After the meeting, County CEO Frank Kim said the county was using general fund money to pay for the additional beds and services. People will be treated with care and compassion, he said, with officials looking into setting up dividers within large tents to provide privacy for homeless people.

The county already was helping people at the riverbed camp move into motels Wednesday and Thursday, with six people in motels as of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and 10 in the process of being housed, according to county spokeswoman Jen Nentwig.

“These are not technically ‘motel vouchers,’ ” Nentwig wrote in an emailed answer to questions. County public health officials are arranging and buying the motel rooms individually with each person. “Outreach staff call motels to find available rooms and they then transport the individual when the room is booked,” she wrote.

People at the riverbed can start moving into motels as soon as they want, Nentwig added. “People do not need to wait until Tuesday,” when the evictions begin, she said.

It’s also unclear how motel owners are reacting to the county’s efforts to find 400 rooms for homeless people, or how the process is going from their perspective.

The county action stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Weitzman and fellow attorney Carol Sobel on behalf of seven homeless people and the Orange County Catholic Worker service group. The lawsuit alleged evicting homeless people from the riverbed camp violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, because homeless people would be forced into cities where they’d be subject to arrest for camping or loitering amid a shortage of adequate shelter beds.

The county and city defendants disputed the claims, arguing they had done extensive outreach at the riverbed offering services and there were beds available in existing shelters.

Instead of having both sides argue about facts and the law this week, Carter took a different approach.

At the outset of his hearing Tuesday, the judge questioned if the court’s typical “adversarial system” is best suited to address a homelessness problem that has “overwhelmed” local cities, police, and groups trying to help the poor.

In the adversarial legal system, he said, there’s “finger pointing” and an “all or nothing” mentality. But he said there’s another approach – what Carter called a “solution-oriented process” – and the judge said he would be “nudging” all sides to start a conversation on long-range solutions.

He said that would depend on each side’s ability to turn from the “adversarial positions you’re in…to one of problem solving.”

After intensely questioning county officials and homeless people’s attorneys – and telling them he was ready to stay in court until midnight – the various sides came together and struck the agreement on motels and evictions.

“Many have been displaced from the riverbed prior to this most recent agreement, [and] are now in the cities, in Santa Ana and other cities,” said David Duran, an advocate for homeless people, who also thanked the board “for taking positive steps” in implementing the motel agreement.

At the same time, he said, “there’s substantially more that’s left to be done,” adding that people who accept the motel rooms could potentially lose access to personal property and be separated from family.

“There are still hundreds, or thousands, [of homeless people] left that need some attention. They need your help,” Duran said.

Another homeless advocate, R. Joshua Collins, called the agreement “very exciting” during his public comments, but wondered, “why did it take a federal judge” for it to happen?

It’s unclear if Carter will rule on whether some form of expanded shelter must be provided for the thousands of other homeless people who live on the streets of Orange County outside of the riverbed.

Thus far, Carter hasn’t issued any rulings regarding the constitutional questions presented in the ongoing lawsuits. But he did write in his order temporarily blocking the evictions he was “concerned that persons who leave or are evicted from the Riverbed may subsequently be cited by Defendant Cities under those Cities’ anti-camping or anti-loitering laws, even though those persons may not be able to find a shelter or other place to sleep.”

Do, the supervisors’ chairman, thanked county staff for their hard work on the agreement, as well as the attorneys who sued the county.

“I have never seen a resolve that I have witnessed in the last few days while we have been in litigation,” Do said. County staff, “together with Judge Carter and opposing counsel” and county counsel, “worked late into the night every day this week.”

The next 30 days will be a period to evaluate the county’s effectiveness and hopefully make adjustments and “work together” to create “a real effective system” for Orange County, Do said.

“I am very glad that this is a very huge first step in that direction.”

Nick Gerda covers county government and Santa Ana for Voice of OC. You can contact him at ngerda@voiceofoc.org.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/plan-to-move-riverbed-homeless-to-motels-approved-by-oc-supervisors/feed/0Judge Upholds Cut In Bustamante’s Pension Over Sex Crimeshttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/judge-upholds-cut-in-bustamantes-pension-over-sex-crimes/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/judge-upholds-cut-in-bustamantes-pension-over-sex-crimes/#respondFri, 16 Feb 2018 15:01:22 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=473790Orange County Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Glass Wednesday upheld a decision by the county’s retirement board to reduce the pension of Orange County Public Works executive Carlos Bustamante, following Bustamante’s criminal convictions for sexually assaulting women who worked for him at the county.

In December 2015, Bustamante, a former Santa Ana City Council member and rising star in the local Republican Party, pleaded guilty to felony counts of stalking, attempted sexual battery by restraint and grand theft by false pretense, as well as misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, assault and attempted sexual battery.

In October 2016, the retirement board, known as the Orange County Employees Retirement System, or OCERS, voted unanimously to cut two and a half years of service credits from Bustamante’s pension, bringing his monthly payment from $4,687.40 to $3,096.86. Soon after, Bustamante filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of their decision.

“While a promise of a pension was part of the bargain for petitioner’s [Bustamante’s] public employment, it is not unconditional,” Glass wrote in his ruling Wednesday. “The promise is that pensions are for those who faithfully give service to the public.”

Faithful service to the public and a felony conviction related to that service, Glass wrote, “are incompatible.”

In OCERS’ response to Bustamante’s lawsuit, the agency evoked the #MeToo movement, a social media campaign for survivors of sexual harassment, assault and rape.

“#MeToo,” the brief begins. “That would be the call of the five women who Petitioner Carlos Bustamante admitted to sexually harassing, assaulting, and forcibly restraining during his multi-year spree of abuse and power.”

In cutting Bustamante’s pension, the retirement board relied on the state Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act, known as PEPRA, which went into effect in 2013 and requires “current or future” public officials convicted of a felony while carrying out their official duties to forfeit pension benefits earned from the date of the commission of the felony.

Bustamante’s attorney, Edwin Brown, argued that the law does not apply to Bustamante because he resigned in October 2011, before PEPRA went into effect.

“It remains our position that it’s an unconstitutional statute as it relates to Mr. Bustamante, because it’s a right that was vested long before the statute became effective,” Brown told Voice of OC Thursday. “We’re arguing that once you’ve resigned, been terminated or retired, you aren’t a current employee.”

OCERS argued it’s the date of his criminal conviction, in December 2015, that matters.

“Petitioner’s proposed construction of the statue would open up a loophole in the provision that every criminal defendant could step right through, because defendants could simply resign office before a judgment of conviction is entered, avoiding the felony forfeiture statute,” attorneys for OCERS wrote in a court filing.

Glass sided with OCERS, saying that while the law does make a distinction between employees hired before and after 2013, the section on felony forfeiture clearly was intended to cover all public employees past and present.

Brown’s attorney also objected to the application of the felony forfeiture law given that the three felony charges against Bustamante were originally misdemeanors, but were changed when the statute of limitations on the misdemeanor charges ran out. Brown said Bustamante agreed to the plea deal with the promise that after three years, his felonies would be reduced to misdemeanors, and never would have signed the plea deal knowing that his pension was in jeopardy.

Glass also rejected that argument, writing that “The petitioner plead guilty to a felony and thus convicted of a felony.”

Bustamante has not decided yet whether he will appeal the judge’s decision.

“We think it’s appealable, but he just hasn’t made a decision,” Brown said.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/judge-upholds-cut-in-bustamantes-pension-over-sex-crimes/feed/0County Finalizes Agreement On Eviction And Temporary Shelter For Santa Ana Riverbed Homelesshttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/county-finalizes-agreement-on-eviction-and-temporary-shelter-for-santa-ana-riverbed-homeless/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/county-finalizes-agreement-on-eviction-and-temporary-shelter-for-santa-ana-riverbed-homeless/#respondThu, 15 Feb 2018 15:14:43 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=473120Orange County officials and attorneys for homeless people, pushed by a federal judge, reached agreement Wednesday on a short-term plan to move and provide shelter for nearly 400 people living along the Santa Ana Riverbed, the largest homeless camp in the county.

Since the start of a federal court hearing Tuesday morning, county officials and attorneys representing seven homeless people scrambled to hammer out an agreement over what the county will be required to provide as they begin to clear the riverbed beginning at 9 a.m. Feb. 20.

Attorneys finalized the agreement around 6:15 pm Wednesday night. It calls for the county to provide a motel room for each of the 400 homeless people for a minimum of 30 days. The county also has agreed to open up hundreds more beds, if necessary, at the Kraemer Shelter in Anaheim and erect temporary tents on other county properties.

People will be allowed to bring as much of their property as can fit in the trunk of the car transporting them to the motel or shelter, and anything left over will be stored by the county for 90 days. Pets will be permitted “where allowed,” according to the agreement.

People staying in motels will be required to adhere to several rules, including a prohibition on drug use in motel rooms and continued contact with outreach workers.

In the first 30 days of a person’s motel stay, the county is required to provide a clinical assessment of each person’s needs, make regular visits, provide transportation for them to access medical and social services, and provide other services.

The agreement still needs to be approved by the county Board of Supervisors at a special meeting at 3 p.m. Thursday. If it is approved, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter likely will lift a temporary restraining order barring the county from clearing the riverbed. The order would end Tuesday morning.

If the Board of Supervisors does not approve the agreement, attorneys will likely be back in court.

Attorneys on both sides have not agreed on what will happen after the first 30 days that people are housed and there are still many unanswered questions. But Carter said he will monitor how the county moves forward.

It’s unclear how many motel rooms the county will be able to find; how many pets people will be allowed to bring with them; how people with disabilities will be accommodated or how people will be transported to shelters and motels.

On Wednesday night, attorneys strategized over helping homeless individuals quickly get new or updated identification cards, after one man was refused housing at a motel Wednesday because his ID is expired.

Brooke Weitzman and Carol Sobel, the attorneys representing homeless individuals, also raised concerns that homeless people leaving the riverbed might be cited for camping or loitering by neighboring cities. In April, two armories, which provide shelter at night and only are open in the winter, will close, potentially displacing more people, Sobel said.

Sobel said one of her clients left the riverbed and was cited on Feb. 8 in the city of Orange and arrested the next day in Anaheim.

Carter, however, has been adamant throughout the hearing that he does not want to see the county or neighboring cities issuing citations to homeless people.

Carter, who will be on site at the riverbed next Tuesday as evictions begin, has urged both parties to “trust each other.”

“If [plans] fall through, I’ll step in,” Carter said.

Carter has presided over an unorthodox and, by federal court standards, informal hearing, where he has pressured attorneys to come to an agreement among themselves rather than ordering them what to do.

Those negotiations stretched until 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday. The next morning at 6 a.m., Carter, flanked by a procession of attorneys, county employees, public officials and media, toured the riverbed for four hours and spoke to the hundreds of homeless people who still remain.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Carter was back on the bench and worked through lunch to hear from a handful of citizens and advocates waiting to address the court. By 1:30 p.m., attorneys on both sides were back to drafting an agreement.

At times, Carter left the bench in the middle of the hearing to personally greet people in the audience, including four members of the Orange County Grand Jury who came to observe the proceedings.

Later, while hearing testimony from a representative of Lighthouse Church, which provides services to homeless people, Carter asked the representative to call another service provider. He came down from the bench, walked to the podium, and they talked – on speaker phone – about challenges for homeless service providers.

Carter and his law clerks also have reached out to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Chapman University, and even asked the Anaheim Ducks hockey team to get involved.

The judge acknowledged his actions over the last two days are an “oddity” for the federal court and outside his normal functions.

“The federal court finds itself in a strange position,” Carter said. “But it may be the very umbrella that gives the opportunity, if they choose, for the county and cities to come together.”

Asked by one speaker, attorney and activist Mohammed Aly, if he would issue a consent decree to enforce the use of federal funds for alleviating homelessness, Carter said he had considered the idea.

A consent decree is a type of settlement that would allow Carter to require the county to take certain actions and give him the authority to monitor the case long-term.

Carter said he was surprised by the progress between the two parties and has since set aside that option.

Carter’s temporary restraining order barred the county from moving people from a section of the riverbed. He said that order created an “affection, kind of this shield” of protection for homeless people who are reluctant to leave. Some people have posted the order on their tents.

“I don’t want that to be a false shield,” Carter said. “They need to know they have to leave.”

He said homeless people do not have a “hereditary right” to camp on the riverbed.

“I have the power as to how they’re treated and how humanely it’s done,” Carter said.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/county-finalizes-agreement-on-eviction-and-temporary-shelter-for-santa-ana-riverbed-homeless/feed/0CalPERS: Rancho Santiago Chancellor’s Salary Violates Retirement Lawshttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/calpers-rancho-santiago-chancellors-salary-violates-retirement-laws/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/calpers-rancho-santiago-chancellors-salary-violates-retirement-laws/#respondThu, 15 Feb 2018 15:11:23 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=471407The state pension system, known as CalPERS, has told the Rancho Santiago Community College District to reverse changes to Chancellor Raul Rodriguez’s salary because the contract approved by the district’s board is “prohibited under retirement law.”

In August 2017, the board approved a new contract for Rodriguez which incorporated a $30,000 relocation allowance into his salary. Members of the district’s faculty union, which has been heavily critical of the chancellor, accused Rodriguez of trying to spike his state pension.

But the district’s attorney, Ruben Smith, argues CalPERS has not completed an official review of Rodriguez’s account, and “for you to come out and say they’ve declared it’s not legal is premature.”

“Trust me, no one is trying to pull a fast one here,” said Smith. “His salary is not being spiked.”

Smith said the agency is “misinterpreting” the contract’s language.

“They’re thinking that we’re taking that relocation pay and adding it to his salary for retirement purposes,” said Smith. “We’re taking his relocation pay and doing away with it and we’re increasing his salary so it’s more competitive.”

The $30,000 relocation allowance was part of Rodriguez’s original contract when he was hired in 2010 and is intended to reimburse him for the cost of his move from Stockton to Santa Ana. He’s continued to receive the allowance for the past seven years.

The district said the new contract amounts to a $30,000 salary increase for Rodriguez with no new costs to taxpayers, since he was already receiving the money in the form of a benefit. Rodriguez said he needs the relocation pay to keep up with the higher cost of living in Orange County, and the change to his contract was not an attempt to boost his pension, saying “it’s not [pension] spiking if I don’t retire.”

But union members cried foul, arguing that regardless of whether Rodriguez’s overall compensation is the same, by increasing his salary, the new contract would also increase his final pension payout.

State pension law does not allow housing or travel pay to count toward one’s pension.

Smith also pointed to language in Rodriguez’s contract that the relocation allowance will expire 30 days before the termination of the contract, claiming that the $30,000 will not get factored into his pension because of that.

“That compensation gets taken out before his contract terminates. So it doesn’t even get calculated in, because it gets deleted,” Smith said.

CalPERS, however, does not calculate pensions based on a person’s last pay period, but rather a one- or three-year average of their highest annual compensation, according to the agency’s spokeswoman, Amy Morgan.

Initially CalPERS reviewed Rodriguez’s salary in late August and said there was nothing wrong with the arrangement.

But after a board member for the faculty union, Santiago Canyon College counselor Barry Resnick, questioned CalPERS’ determination and sent them updated documents approved by the school board in September, the agency came to a different conclusion.

“CalPERS reviewed the additional documents that Mr. Resnick forwarded to us…and determined that…Rodriguez’s new salary was not in compliance with the retirement law,” said Morgan in an email. “CalPERS does not tolerate pension spiking and invites the public to assist us in identifying any and all instances.”

According to Morgan, the district’s board will need to amend Rodriguez’s contract to comply with retirement laws. His account also has been flagged by CalPERS, and will be reviewed again when he retires. The $30,000 salary increase under his latest contract will not count toward his pension.

"If the compensation remains out of compliance at the time of Rodriguez’s retirement, CalPERS will deny it,” Morgan said in an email.

When CalPERS conducted its review in late Aug. 2017, the agency relied on two salary schedules sent by the district which were approved by the board in April, before the chancellor’s contract was changed.

Resnick, a board member for the Faculty Association of Rancho Santiago Community College District, or FARSCCD, contacted CalPERS multiple times alerting them to an updated salary schedule approved by the board in September, which shows an additional $30,000 in Rodriguez’s salary.

Resnick, a former president of FARSCCD, questioned why the district did not provide the updated salary schedule to CalPERS, although he would not go as far to say the district lied.

“That’s hard to answer [until] I know what CALPERS asked them [the district] for,” Resnick said. “Deception has been the hallmark of Rodriguez’s tenure in the district. Based on what I’ve seen in the past, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Smith said he is not familiar with how the district communicated with CalPERS but the district has not withheld any information.

He and other district officials have suggested the controversy over Rodriguez’s salary is politically motivated.

“Other people want to interpret it differently to play games – but I think you’ll find that there’s nothing going on here,” Smith said.

As of Monday evening, Smith did not respond to questions about whether the district would amend Rodriguez’s contract to comply with retirement law.

Resnick and the faculty union have butted heads with Rodriguez over a number of issues, most recently a proposal increasing the number of units faculty are required to teach, without a proposed pay increase, and a controversial partnership between the district and the government of Saudi Arabia.

“I’m not just a faculty member, I live in this district and pay taxes,” said Resnick, who lives in Orange. “And I don’t tolerate taxpayer abuses either.”

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/calpers-rancho-santiago-chancellors-salary-violates-retirement-laws/feed/0Federal Judge Walks Entire Length of Santa Ana Riverbed Homeless Camp For Firsthand Informationhttps://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/federal-judge-walks-entire-length-of-santa-ana-riverbed-homeless-camp-for-firsthand-information/
https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/federal-judge-walks-entire-length-of-santa-ana-riverbed-homeless-camp-for-firsthand-information/#respondThu, 15 Feb 2018 15:10:01 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=473119U.S. District Judge David O. Carter began walking the length of the entire Santa Ana River homeless camp before sunrise Wednesday getting a firsthand look at the sprawling camp, stopping to talk with homeless people and even pulling trash out of the river.

“Normally we judges … are a little bit skittish of (news) publications, but this is the best thing that can happen (the media attention) because the public knows (about the homeless situation). The public will do the good thing. There’ll be donations out here. There’ll be help,” Carter told Voice of OC. He said big organizations around the county also will step up to help.

“Before it (the homeless issue) was below (the public consciousness). We get it up there and get it to boil,” the federal court judge said.

County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who joined the riverbed hike, said Carter is a necessary piece in helping the county address the homeless issue.

“It might be a little bit of judicial activism on his part, but he was the necessary glue to bring all these various pieces together … that’s his magic, that’s what he does,” Spitzer told Voice of OC.

While walking through the camp with attorneys from both sides of a lawsuit to block evictions of the homeless, along with some top county managers, Carter directed them to get back together in the courtroom after the four-hour hike and begin crafting an agreement beyond the temporary relief efforts they agreed to Tuesday.

That agreement included vouchers provided by the county for 30-day stays at motels and added beds at shelters, along with tents on various plots of county land. Orange County has a shortage of overnight shelter space. By Wednesday night, the county and lawyers for homeless people reached a final agreement.

After hiking up and down the approximately three-mile stretch of riverbed, Carter told the attorneys “don’t worry about changing (clothes). Get there (to the courtroom) and start drafting (an agreement).”

“Guess what. I’m sitting there (in his courtroom), until midnight. I’m not going any place until you come in …,” Carter told the attorneys, adding he wanted an agreement between the two sides. “You tell me when I can go home.”

Carter, in Tuesday’s court hearing, pushed the opposing attorneys to hammer out a deal that would provide 400 vouchers for at least 30 days at motels, additional beds at the Kraemer homeless shelter in Anaheim and the potential to open up parking lots for emergency tent shelters in places like empty ground by the Registrar of Voters office, as well as the Kraemer parking lot.

Scores of homeless people came out to greet Carter during his walk and thank him for the way he was steering the case in court. Carter was quick to remind them that people will have to be cleared out of the area by 9 a.m. next Tuesday, Feb. 20.

“Thank you judge, I really appreciate it,” MJ Diehl told Carter as he walked through the north end of the camp in between Ball Road/Taft Avenue and Katella, near the Honda Center. “Yeah, I’d love to take a shower,” Diehl said when Carter asked if he would go to a motel after informing him the camp would be closed next Tuesday.

Carter, wearing a blue sweater with the federal district court seal on it, blue jeans and sneakers, would occasionally stop and snap pictures on his phone of abandoned camps, empty sections of the riverbed and trash heaps yet to be picked up by county workers. He also walked the length of the riverbed homeless camp last year while handling a different case.

One homeless man was raking up some trash before Carter walked through the area. Carter thanked the man and asked if he needed any trash bags. The judge then hollered to county staff to bring more bags for the man.

Carter also helped recruit two volunteers near Camp Hope -- a homeless advocate-run media outreach organization for the homeless living there -- that will help find veterans living on the riverbed and get them signed up with Veterans Affairs programs. Carter spoke with them and asked them to help county’s efforts by speaking with veterans on the riverbed.

The homeless encampment has significantly dwindled since sheriff’s deputies walked tent-to-tent Jan. 22 and told people they needed to pack up and leave soon under an eviction process called “voluntary compliance.” The move led to a lawsuit, filed Jan. 29 by attorneys Brooke Weitzman and Carol Sobel, on behalf of The Catholic Worker and seven homeless people. The situation remained the same until Feb. 1, when parole and probation officers accompanied deputies on the riverbed and arrest numbers began to tick up.

On Wednesday morning, many spots along the riverbed that previously had numerous tents, were cleared out. Trash from a number of former campsites’ was neatly piled up and put in bright orange bags provided by the county.

“Honestly, I think the plaintiffs and defendants want the same goal. We don’t want to see a mass exodus of people into the cities. We don’t want to see arrests,” Spitzer said, at the end of the walk.

The riverbed is slated to be closed for over three miles, from Ball Road/Taft Avenue, bordering Anaheim and Orange, to Memory Lane, bordering Garden Grove and Santa Ana. County officials said the proposed closure is for a maintenance project along the riverbed. Carter said the county may do that, so long as they move the homeless out “humanely” and help them into housing and services.

While on his brisk walk through the encampment on a cool Wednesday morning, Carter was flanked by two sheriff’s deputies and two U.S. Marshals, and various county and city officials including Spitzer, County CEO Frank Kim, Anaheim Councilwoman Kris Murray, Huntington Beach Councilman Billy O’Connell and various attorneys from the cities and county and Weitzman and Sobel.

There were two electric flatbed carts following Carter and company that carried bottled water and occasionally some officials. Carter never sat in the carts.

Carter also noted his concern about women, especially abused women, on the riverbed. He stopped to thank a volunteer who focuses on helping abused homeless women, when a homeless woman, Enjay, stepped forward and told him that she’s “fallen through the cracks” on assistance programs and still is waiting to get housing.

“We’ll do our best with the best of bad solutions,” Carter told Enjay, noting he’s very concerned for the abused women on the riverbed.

Enjay, who only gave her first name, said she and other abused women stay close together at night for protection and that some men have stepped up to help protect them from “predators” on the riverbed.

She told Voice of OC she made too much money in 2016 to qualify for 2017 assistance programs and abused women’s programs turned her away because she wasn’t abused in the last 90 days.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “So you want me to get attacked to qualify for these resources?”

In addition to talking to homeless people living on the riverbed, Carter picked up trash from the bottom of the river, including a five-gallon plastic water jug, a metal rod and some plastic piping.

“This stuff doesn’t degrade for a thousand years,” he said to his two clerks. “Ridiculous.”

He called the attorneys over as he walked back up the riverbank, holding the trash.

“I threatened to sic the environmental groups in the lawsuit, right? But I desisted, so I didn’t have the environmental groups fighting with the homeless groups,” Carter told the attorneys.

Carter then turned to county CEO Kim.

“Can you pick this stuff up? And if not, I’m going to call the environmental groups … you want some help? I got lots of help,” Carter told Kim.

Kim and other county officials declined the offer Carter made on behalf of the environmental groups.

“It’s OK. I can take directions,” Kim said.

Plastic jugs and piping weren’t the only thing Carter picked up on his walk through the camp.

He passed by a county cleanup crew on the segment next to Angel Stadium and thanked them for the “tough job” they have.

Carter started to dig through the debris and ask about needles when he lifted up a hazardous material container that held used needles.

Many officials told him to not touch the needle box, but Carter ignored them and told the officials that cleanup crews wouldn’t be able to get all the needles the first time, but they’d have “to come back to get it all.”

Debbie Wales, a 60-year-old Orange County native who lives on the riverbed, said she’s thankful for Carter “treating us as human beings.”

“I don’t want to live here. Some people want to, I don’t,” Wales told Voice of OC. “It’s hard because getting a place for me on my income. I’m on social security -- I’m disabled.”

Wales, with her two cats in her tent near Angel Stadium, began to choke up and wipe away tears when she lifted up two cans of tuna she recently got to feed her cats.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping away tears, holding the two cans. “I have cat food. I haven’t been able to get them food for a while.”

She’s been homeless since April and has been on the waitlist for rapid rehousing for at least two months, Wales said. “It’s really hard being single, alone and trying to come up with the money … I did not ever think I’d be here, ever in a million years, be homeless.”

Spencer Custodio is a Voice of OC reporter who covers south Orange County and Fullerton. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org.